Frayed Edges
by cloudymagnolia
Summary: Ever since he found out the truth about his identity, Yukito has been doing his best to pretend that he's just a normal boy. But when he gets a cold, and has to stay home all day with Kero, maybe he'll begin to come to terms with who he really is. T/Y
1. Prologue: Home

**Author's Notes: To all of my wonderful readers of A Series of Smiles, this is not meant to be a companion piece. This was written at a different time, for a different purpose. This story is provisionally dedicated to Lady Blood Dove, who pointed out that Yue gets very little character development in A Series of Smiles. She's right – there's a little more in this story (Incidentally, I'm sorry for the delay in the epilogue of ASoS. I wrote something, but I decided to axe the beginning because I didn't like the flow. It'll be up in the next two or three days, promise).**

**The main characters of this story are really Yukito, Yue, and Kero. Touya and Yukito don't get their five minutes of relationship development until the very end. But, I figured I'd better put this in the Yuki/Touya category just in case. Enjoy!**

After Sakura defeated Eriol and divided Clow's powers, returning peace and stability to the cosmic balance, there were still a few loose ends to tie up. The most obvious, to the Kinomoto's, was Yukito's empty house.

Both Kinomoto siblings could tell that he hated it. It was a constant, obvious reminder that he wasn't who he thought he was. That he had been created, not born, as a convenient place-holder for an entity that Yukito didn't know, didn't want, and couldn't compete with. That he was just the by-product of forces that everyone that he loved understood more clearly than he did.

But neither Sakura nor Touya had broached the subject with the boy. Touya had tried, more than once, but Yukito always either changed the subject or muttered some vague nothing and shut the boy out. He didn't have to say out loud that selling the house would become messy when the realtor found out that the signatures on the homeowner's documents belonged to a couple that had never existed.

Touya had considered forcingYukito to give up the house by the simple expedient of asking Sakura to _order_ Yukito to move in with them, but had instantly dismissed it as a bad idea. Yukito was already sensitive enough about his inhumanity; Touya didn't have to rub it in by flaunting one of the many magical contracts that defined the boy's existence.

Instead, Touya merely found as many excuses as possible for Yukito to sleep over – most weeks, Yukito stayed as the Kinomoto's guest as many as four nights out of the week. The rest of the time, he was encouraged to at least eat dinner with Touya's family, whether Touya was there or not. It was only a temporary solution, and everyone knew it.

Everyone except Fujitaka of course, who, in spite of having gained significant magical powers, remained relatively oblivious to the extraordinary magical antics that were going on right under her nose.

Which was why it was a bit of a surprise to everyone involved that it was Fujitaka who, quietly and simply, solved the problem.

Fujitaka came home from work later than usual one October evening, to find that he had missed dinner. He watched, a troubled expression on his face, as his two children and his son's – friend? Lover? He hadn't had the opportunity to ask Touya about it yet – happily did the dishes. Finally, after several long moments, he asked to speak to Yukito in his study.

"Privately," he added, as Touya moved to follow Yukito up the stairs. Touya and Sakura traded mystified glances, but Touya shrugged and remained in the kitchen.

In the study, Fujitaka found Yukito nervously straightening the knickknacks on the shelves. He jumped when he heard the door open, and hurriedly muttered an apology for disrupting the professor's keepsakes.

Fujitaka smiled calmly and waited for Yukito to collect himself. Once Yukito looked relaxed enough to carry on an intelligent conversation, Fujitaka perched against his desk and motioned for the boy to take his chair.

"Don't worry," Fujitaka reassured him. "You're not in trouble. I just didn't want Touya to overhear this conversation"

"W-what?" Yukito stammered, a worried flush creeping up his neck. He had been dreading a conversation like this between Fujitaka and himself, concerning the nature of his relationship with Touya, for some time now. He didn't know what was more mortifying, the fact that it had finally happened, or the fact that it had come about before either boy had acted upon his emotions.

"Yes," Fujitaka continued firmly. "I didn't want you to feel pressured by his presence. Now, I understand that your grandparents passed away recently?"

"Ehm," Yukito managed, rather intelligently. He couldn't exactly tell Touya's father that his grandparents had just been a figment of his imagination.

"I understand," Fujitaka's voice was sympathetic. "I read it in the paper a few weeks ago. Normally, I would never bring it up with you before you were ready to talk about it, but they were your only living relatives, am I correct?"

Yuki stood there with his mouth hanging open for a full three seconds before his brain caught up with the situation. "Yes," he said carefully, "they were." He wasn't sure if some last vestige of the complicated spell that had brought Tsukishiro Yukito into existence, complete with home, bank account, and school enrollment forms, had arranged for a death announcement to be sent to the newspapers once Clow's powers were divided, or if the division itself had planted a piece of false information in Fujitaka's mind, but Yukito certainly wasn't going to argue with such a convenient explanation for his grandparents' inexistence.

Fujitaka nodded, ever compassionate. "I noticed that you'd been spending a lot of time over here. I want you to know that I'd be more than happy to take over your guardianship for the rest of the year. It might be easier than having a legal guardian assigned by the state or going through the process of being formally emancipated. Also, I understand that your home probably has tremendous sentimental value to you, having belonged to your grandparents, but…"

"This house has always been more of a home to me, and you all more of a family," Yukito interrupted him quietly. Fujitaka turned his head sharply to the side and then stood up briskly, as if something had been decided.

"Touya told me that your grandparents frequently left you alone," he said sadly, almost to himself. "If it weren't speaking ill of the dead…" Fujitaka seemed to pull himself together. "In any event, I'll bring the car around tonight so that we can begin moving your things into the spare bedroom. It will probably be easier to maintain possession of the house until you turn eighteen. If the property tax is a problem, I can pay it for you this year."

"N-no," Yukito stammered, although things were moving so quickly that he was no longer sure what he was disagreeing with.

"Ah, your grandparents left you some money?" Fujitaka continued imperturbably. "All the better then. Oh, and Yukito," Fujitaka paused near the door, and turned a tender, sympathetic smile on the younger boy. "Unless I'm very much mistaken, you and Touya are at a delicate point in your relationship. If living together on top of everything else becomes a strain, please let me know. I want to see you two happy together for many years to come."

It took Yukito much longer than three seconds to pull himself together after that.

**I'm not entirely satisfied with the way this part of the story hangs… if you have any suggestions, please REVIEW and let me know.**


	2. Cold

**This is the meat of the story. Enjoy!**

For the first time in living memory, Yukito had a cold. Needless to say it wasn't a normal cold; Yukito, not being human, couldn't contract human diseases. He was, however, extremely sensitive to changes in the magical environment, and living with the Kinomoto's was roughly equivalent to living with a number of large, ungainly, and temperamental magic-spewing elephants.

It had come on the night before, over dinner. Fujitaka was away for the week on an extended dig, so it had been up to the three children to do all the chores. Touya, by far the best cook of the three, had agreed to partner with Yuki on both the shopping and the preparation as long as Sakura did the clean-up. She was surprisingly amenable to the division of labor, but whether it was because she really had too much homework to take the time go to the store or because she was trying to give Yukito and Touya some discreet time alone, neither boy was quite sure. They both appreciated it, in any event.

At the supermarket, Touya turned an affectionate glance at his companion, and asked, "So, what's for dinner tonight, Yuki?"

"Hmm…" Yuki frowned, as if deep in thought. "I… Anything's fine," he changed his mind halfway through.

"No, really," Touya insisted. "I want to make something you like."

Yuki smiled tiredly. "I'm actually not all that hungry," There was a moment of stunned silence.

"_What_?" Touya asked finally. "Yuki, you're _always_ hungry." Yukito laughed.

"I know. I just don't have much of an appetite today. Oh come on," he continued, as Touya continued to look disbelieving. "It's not exactly a harbinger of the apocalypse – I just didn't do much today."

Touya accepted the excuse – Yuki had, in fact, spent most of the day relatively immobile. He had chosen not to help out at any clubs after school, and had been quietly doing homework on the couch when Touya got home from his convenience store shift. Not even Sakura's imperturbable happy energy had been enough to get Yuki up that afternoon. "All right, then let's make something with easy clean-up."

Yukito chuckled knowingly. "Always the good big brother, aren't you," he teased gently. Touya didn't respond. Yukito didn't notice. That got an eyebrow raise – Touya might not have a magical sixth sense anymore, but his sense of perception around those he cared about was almost as good. Under normal circumstances, Yukito would have kept on him until he got some sort of a rise out of his friend.

Touya couldn't bring himself to be surprised when Yukito offered almost no input as Touya was choosing groceries (Yukito had a truly supernatural ability to always choose the best vegetables or freshest cuts of meat from a display) and carried a smaller share of the groceries than usual on the walk home (normally, Yukito carried at least half).

He perked up a bit over dinner, from a combination of the food and the feeling of Touya's worried eyes on him. He ate no more than Touya and only slightly more than Sakura (but a lot less than Kero. Fujitaka being out of town, he was allowed to sit at the table with the rest of the family), but he found the energy to talk and laugh with the siblings almost like normal.

Halfway through dinner, he sneezed.

"Bless you," Touya said courteously.

"Someone is probably paying you a compliment somewhere, Yukito," Sakura chirped happily. Yukito laughed and helped himself to another ladle of soup.

A few minutes later, he sneezed again.

"Eh?" Sakura asked, surprised.

"Are you feeling all right?" Touya demanded, suspiciously.

"I'm fine," Yukito said firmly. It was probably just Touya's imagination that his smile seemed more forced than usual.

The third time he sneezed, the siblings stood up as if with one thought, and in spite of Yukito's protestations, he soon found himself bundled underneath a blanket, reclining on the couch with a thermometer sticking out of his mouth.

"I'm not sick," he mumbled around the thermometer. "You two are acting like a pair of mother hens, I just sneezed."

The thermometer beeped, and before Yukito could untangle his arms from the blanket, Touya had whipped it out of his mouth and was holding it up to the light.

"Thirty-eight degrees," he said, with a mixture of worry and triumph in his voice. "Yuki, you're sick. You have a fever."

"Don't be ridiculous," Yukito spluttered, still struggling with the blanket. "I've never been sick before. I don't even think I can _get_ sick." The bitter undertone to his voice on the last few words was lost on none of them, but Touya visibly pushed it out of him mind.

"I think you can, actually," Kero interrupted thoughtfully from his perch on the fireplace. All three humanoids turned their eyes on him; it was the first thing he'd said since Yukito's first sneeze. "You don't get sick the way other humans do, of course, but Yue's always been sensitive to magic, and I remember he used to get magic colds pretty frequently."

Touya looked a challenge at Sakura. "_Magic colds?" _He repeated incredulously. She squeaked from the heat of the over-protective fire in her brother's eyes. "What were you three doing the other night?" Touya continued suspiciously. 'You three' in this case meant Sakura, Keroberus, and Yue, all of whom had been up late working on some all-important piece of sorcery the previous week-end.

"It was just a divination to track the other artifacts left behind by Clow," Sakura hurried to reassure her brother. "Eriol told me that when he woke up forty years ago some of his tools were missing."

Yukito shifted uncomfortably, and the Kinomotos snapped their attention back to the matter at hand. In spite of frequent – almost weekly – offers from his housemates to fill him in on the details of his other form's doings, Yukito continued to insist that he was happier not knowing. Any time that Sakura's or Clow's magic came up in conversation, he would get distinctly sulky until the topic was changed. "I have a head-ache," he announced grimly.

"Kero," Touya said, raking a hand through his hair, "Is there a way to get rid of these 'magic colds'?" He said the last two words with clear distaste.

"There is no cure for a cold," Kero said virtuously, surreptitiously drifting farther away from Touya. The sun guardian was frankly terrified of his Master's older brother when he got into these fiercely protective moods. "Although normal human medicine should help Yukito's symptoms," he offered uncertainly, and silently sighed with relief when Touya lifted his predatory gaze.

"All right," Touya said, with the air of concluding a conference. "Yukito, upstairs, in bed. No homework or chores tonight, and you're staying home from school tomorrow."

Yukito spluttered from the injustice of being sent to bed against his will at the age of seventeen, but Touya ignored him and Sakura – usually so eager to take Yukito's side – backed up her brother.

"Please, Yukito?" she begged, big green eyes filling with tears. "Your health comes first! We'll all worry if you push yourself too hard tonight or tomorrow." Yukito sighed. No one could disappoint that face.

"All right," he agreed irritably. "Just let me finish up a few math problems and we'll see how I feel in the morning." As if in response, Touya scooped the smaller boy up in his arms bridal-style. This, Yukito realized belatedly, served the dual purpose of transportation and surprising Yukito so much that he forgot to protest or struggle as he was being carried up to his bedroom.

"Stay there," Touya whispered in his ear as he set him gently on his bed. Yukito was too dazed both by the fever and the close proximity to his as-yet unrequited love to do more than nod stupidly. Touya was back a moment later with his book-bag and the medicine box.

"Here," he said as he carefully measured out a triple dose of cough medicine. "This should help you sleep, too."

"Touya," Yuki whined, "I have homework to do, I can't go to bed yet. It's only nine o'clock!" Unfortunately, the force of this statement was totally lost in the huge yawn that escaped on the last vowel. The yawn also gave Touya the perfect opportunity to force-feed Yuki cough syrup.

"Calm down," Touya admonished, all smiles again now that Yuki was in bed and he himself was between the smaller boy and the only exit. "Remember, I'm the resident authority on colds here. You need your rest. You'll have plenty of time to catch up on your homework this week-end. I'll help you with it. It won't take any time at all."

Yuki opened his mouth, as if to complain, but the medicine seemed to be taking effect, because all he said, in a very quiet voice, was, "Will you stay with me until I fall asleep?"

The last thing he remembered hearing that night was Touya's deep, throaty chuckle and the reassuring words, "Of course."

Unfortunately for Touya and Sakura, Yukito woke up early the next morning. Granted, it took him more than double the time it usually did to drag himself out of bed and get into his school uniform (the buttons were being _extremely _uncooperative), so that by the time he forced the heavy, jelly-like stubs that seemed to have replaced his legs down the steps to the kitchen, Touya and Sakura had already finished breakfast and were preparing to leave for school.

"No!" Sakura said in dismay when Yukito appeared in the kitchen.

"Absolutely not," Touya growled. Yukito smiled imperturbably at the both of them.

"See? I'm absolutely fine," he insisted. "Some cough medicine and a good night's sleep was all I needed."

"Really?" Touya replied. It wasn't a question. "And that's why your eyes are red, you're breathing through your mouth, your ears are so plugged up that you have to tilt your head to hear me, and you're leaning on that chair to keep yourself upright."

Yukito's smile faltered. Touya really didn't need magic to know what his loved ones were thinking. Touya saw the other boy's expression change, and grinned in triumph.

"There, I win and you know it." Yukito tried to take a step back as the taller boy bore down on him, but lost his balance as soon as he let go of the chair. Luckily, Touya was there to snake a long arm around him and hold him until he regained his balance. "Bed. Now." Touya ordered. "I will carry you again, if I have to."

In the end, Touya more dragged than carried Yukito up the stairs. Yukito kept up a long train of feeble verbal protests, but he was leaning on Touya quite a bit in order to get back up the stairs, and he knew it. Back in Yukito's bedroom, Touya, without the slightest hint of embarrassment, helped him to undress and put on a clean pair of pyjamas, and stuffed Yukito's slight frame back under the bedclothes.

"There," he said, once he had tucked Yukito in securely enough to ensure that there would be no more breaks for freedom. "Do you want me to bring Sakura's TV into this room?" Yukito shook his tiredly.

"No," he snuffled, the word echoing oddly inside his head.

"Hey," Touya chastised kindly. "Don't look so sad. Everyone gets sick once in a while. Here, the medicine box is right by your bed. I have the day off of work today so I'll be home soon, I promise."

Yukito began to nod, but it made his head-ache worse, so he stopped. Something Touya had said was resonating oddly, though. With a look of utmost concentration, he racked his memory for what had rung false.

"You have the day off today?" He asked uncertainly. "Today's Friday, though. You always work-"

"Shh," Touya silenced him, but it wasn't Touya's voice that had made Yukito's words die in his throat so much as the expression on the taller boy's face as he brought his lips infinitesimally close to Yukito's own. Yukito, head already swimming from fever and head-ache and the after-effects of cough medicine, felt a new sort of flush creep up his face, and he closed his eyes, wondering if Touya would finally…

At the last second, Touya moved to give Yukito a quick peck on the cheek. "I'll take care of it," he breathed into Yukito's ear, leaving the other boy stunned and immobile for almost a full fifteen seconds after he heard the front door slam closed behind the two school-bound students.

Which was precisely what Touya had intended. "You're mean," Yukito said to the air – _Fool me twice, _the air seemed to reply – before falling backwards onto his pillow and allowing his leaden eyelids to close.

Not even a fever and cold could keep Yukito's otherwise strong, healthy body down for long, though. Yukito woke late in the morning, feeling marginally better, but with a bad temper the likes of which could only be caused by being sick, uncomfortable, and twice forced to bed against his will like a petulant child.

He spent a few minutes in a futile attempt to find a comfortable position amidst the blankets, trying every conceivable way he could think of stacking his pillows, before finally settling for the dull lower-back ache that was the inevitable result of propping yourself up on eiderdown.

In retrospect, he wished that he had asked Touya to bring that TV in here. Or his book-bag. It seemed like too much trouble to go get either himself.

He sighed in discomfort and frustration.

"I hate this," he said to the empty house, knowing full well that he was being silly. "I'm bored and lonely."

He reached for a tissue, and nearly jumped out of his skin. He had forgotten that the house, actually, was not empty. There, lounging in midair in front of him was the golden-orange fuzz-ball that Sakura had taken to affectionately calling Kero.

"I know," he said sympathetically, flipping himself upside down just because he could. "It's awful. You lot always go off to school and play games and go on picnics and leave me here."

Yukito blinked. "School isn't all fun," he objected carefully. He had been getting used to Kero's presence for the past few weeks, ever since Fujitaka had cheerfully maneuvered Yukito into accepting the Kinomoto's house as his permanent residence, but he still wasn't entirely comfortable around the… creature. Kero was a physical reminder that Yuki didn't really belong in this world at all, and looking at the cat always made him worry that one day Yue would repossess him entirely: body, mind, and heart.

Kero was nodding his agreement from a few inches above Yukito's head, and Yuki had to concentrate to pull his mind back to the topic under discussion.

"Oh, I don't doubt that," Kero replied. "But even getting out and doing something unpleasant would be kind of fun. I've been stuck in this house for a long time, you know."

"I'm sorry," Yukito said, trying to be polite, but he couldn't actually muster any sympathy for the fuzz ball - and it showed.

"No, you're not," Kero replied, as if he had heard the boy's thoughts. He flew a distracted loop-the-loop and came to rest on Yukito's lap. "I don't think you like me much at all, actually," Kero said sadly, kneading the blankets.

"Does that upset you?" Yukito asked, surprised. For the most part, Kero seemed to just ignore him.

"Of course that upsets me!" Kero sat bolt upright. "You're my little brother, don't you know?"

"I am, or Yue is?" Yukito asked blandly. If he had been speaking to either Touya or Sakura they would have immediately known they were treading on thin ice, but Kero was not known for his perceptiveness.

"Either." Kero responded, smiling into Yuki's face. "Or, both."

The smile melted some of the chill out of Yuki's voice – that, and he couldn't come up with the energy to be truly angry, so instead he asked something that he never would have if his mind had not been dulled from the cold.

"Kero? Do you have two different personalities for your two different forms?"

This time it was Kero's turn to blink. "Of course I don't!" He finally exclaimed, as if the question was silly. "Why would I?"

"Why does Yue, then?" Yuki retorted, trying – and failing – to hide the strangled earnestness in his voice as he said it.

"Because Yue needs a friend."

The answer came so quickly, matter-of-factly, and was said with so much tenderness, that Yukito's mouth actually dropped open.

"I was made whole," Kero elaborated, seeing Yukito's surprise. "Yue was made in halves. You complete him as much as he completes you. Wouldn't life be awfully boring if you couldn't hear him inside your head, balancing out your kindness and generosity?"

Yukito's mouth, if possible, actually dropped lower.

"But I can't hear him," he said finally, that being the only response he could come up with. Kero stared at him blankly. "I can't hear him inside my head."

"_What_?" Kero gasped. It wasn't really a question, so Yukito didn't respond. "You haven't learned to hear him yet? But… then how do you know what's going on when Yue is in control of your body?"

"I… don't," Yukito said, a little icily. That was, after all, the major point of conflict between him and his other form.

Kero goggled at the boy, tiny eyes bugging out in his surprise. "Wait here," he said suddenly – rather stupidly, Yukito thought snidely, considering the circumstances. He was soon back, carrying the book of Clow precariously between his two stubby little arms.

"There we go," he muttered as he up-ended the lot onto Yukito's bed and began filing through the cards. "Here!" he said triumphantly, holding one up for Yukito to see. The card bore the emblem MIRROR across the bottom, and showed a picture of a pale, nearly translucent girl holding a reflecting disc up to the viewer. "Summon her, will ya'?"

"What?" Yukito asked. "Why should I… how do I 'summon' her?" Kero blinked three times, in quick succession.

"You weren't joking. You really don't know anything about your family, do you?" By 'family,' Yukito supposed Kero was referring to himself and the Clow Cards, but Yukito certainly did not think that a ragged group of sorcerer's golems deserved the term. "MIRROR is one of your cards," Kero explained. "There's nineteen, total. Your cards are DARK, WINDY, WATERY, SHADOW, FLY, MIRROR, ERASE, SWORD, and MAZE. Mine are LIGHT, FIREY, EARTHY, THUNDER, GLOW, FLOWER, JUMP, WOODY, ILLUSION, and SHIELD. Got that?" He asked with the air of reading off a lesson. "Sakura's the Master. She can summon whatever card she wants. We're the card guardians. We can only summon the cards that are under our jurisdiction. We can request aid from the other cards," Kero added thoughtfully, looking at MIRROR. "But they don't have to help. So, summon her."

If Yukito hadn't been sick, he would have protested, or refused, or gotten angry at being pulled into the world that he wanted to have nothing to do with, but he didn't really have the strength to argue.

"Mirror, I summon you," he said, feeling foolish.

There was a sudden rushing sound from the four corners of the room. The card lifted into the air of its own accord, and began to glow a dull, pearly silver. There was one sudden, blinding flash of light – Yukito raised his hand over his eyes instinctively – and when his vision cleared, there was a little girl dressed all in silvers and blues, nearly translucent herself, standing in front of him holding a reflecting disc. She curtsied politely. Yukito inclined his head, feeling a little dazed.

"MIRROR, will you please show him his reflection?" Kero asked. MIRROR turned her head to Kero, and Yukito had the distinct and unpleasant sensation that she was asking him a question telepathically. "No, no need to transform," Kero said out loud, confirming Yukito's fears, "just hold up the mirror."

MIRROR gave Yukito a shy, totally disarming smile – she actually looked a little like Sakura, he realized vaguely – before Yukito looked into the reflecting glass that MIRROR was tipping towards his face.

Yukito gasped. He wasn't looking at his reflection – or at least, not quite. He was looking into a pale, cat-like face of startling beauty framed by long, silver-white hair. Clear, cold, cruel indigo eyes bore into Yukito's own soft amber, and he gulped. Those were the eyes of a cat, or maybe a hawk. They were the eyes of a predator.

"So, we meet at last," the reflection spoke.

"Nice to meet you," Yukito said finally. Unsure of what one said when meeting their alternate identity, he had settled on politeness. Yue gave out a bark of laughter.

"You certainly don't think so," he responded, his mouth curving into a rather unpleasant smile. "You hate me. Don't try to argue," Yue said before Yukito had a chance to open his mouth. "You might not yet know me, but I know you rather well. It's why we haven't yet been able to forge a connection."

"And why would I want to forge a connection with you?" Yukito asked coldly. In that moment, he was sure his eyes were just as dangerous as those reflected back at him. "It's because of you that I had to learn that my grandparents were just a figment of my imagination. It's because of you that I had to learn that all of my memories were lies. That I was _created _to be a vehicle for you only three years ago, when it was time for Sakura to begin learning magic. You're the reason for my black-outs, the reason Touya had to sacrifice his second sight, the reason why complete strangers with the barest hint of magic in their veins fall drooling at my feet! You just use me as a means to an end – and when the time comes you'll destroy me, too!" Yukito was almost shouting by the end of his outburst, but he didn't care. The only important thing was making that… _thing_ understand the torment Yukito had been through over the past twelve months.

"You have nothing to fear from me," Yue interrupted quietly. Yukito, angry as he was, couldn't help but notice that those hawk-like eyes had lost some of their steel.

That didn't mean he had to like it. "Right," he sneered, a small part of him registering the flash of pain his sarcasm had brought into the reflection's eyes.

Yue tried again. "Keroberus wasn't lying when he said that you… complete me. You weren't created three years ago, you were created by Clow Reed, only a few years after my birth. As the moon guardian, I cannot exist on my own. I need… to reflect the light of another. You were created to provide that light."

"So I still only exist to serve _you_," Yukito shot back, but it was more to keep fighting than anything else. Clow Reed? Create _him_?

The image in the mirror shook his head. "Only as much as I exist to serve you. What would you be without those you care for? We _are_ separate – you have proven that by now – we can exist separately, merely sharing the same body. I can no more destroy you than you can destroy me. But… it might be more comfortable for both of us if we could be… friends," Yue said falteringly, as if tasting the word. Kero's voice, _Because Yue needs a friend_, rang uncomfortably in Yukito's mind. "Partners," Yue elaborated. "You might, occasionally, get bored of being always so nice. I certainly tire of being stoic."

"So now I have to be a jerk?" Yukito asked defensively.

"No." To Yukito's surprise, it was Keroberus who answered, Keroberus in his full, golden glory, sitting on his haunches beside Yukito's bed, his golden-white wings folded prudently against his back. "You will always maintain your autonomy. It's merely an aspect – a touch of Yin inside the Yang, and a touch of Yang inside the Yin. Yukito," Keroberus said, fixing the small, fragile, feverish human boy with the full force of his brilliant gaze. "Do you hate Yue?"

Yukito wanted desperately to lie, to shout, _Yes, of course I hate him! He took everything I held as precious away from me! He ruined my life! _But with those fathomless, gold-flecked eyes blazing straight into his mind, burning his soul, he found that he could only mumble, as if in a trance, "I resent him. I can't hate him, but I've tried." He took a breath. He was starting to tire, both from the pressure of this unexpected confrontation and from the cold. But maybe, he was starting to realize, just maybe if he got all of the dirty laundry out in the open, things would get better.

"You say that you exist to serve me as much as I exist to serve you. That we're partners, or two aspects of a whole. But how is that true? I have friends and loved ones that I can care about – I only need you because I'm dependent on you for my existence."

Keroberus was nodding, but it was out of understanding, not agreement. "It's easy to see it that way," he said, frowning a little. "Because, at the bottom of it, it _is_ Yue's soul that you both are patterned out of. But remember that when you were fading away, so was Yue. He can't exist without you." Keroberus placed a gentle, heavy paw on Yukito's knee, and Yuki was shocked to feel Keroberus purring, the force of the tremors making his teeth rattle. "You're being stupid, little brother. You're the moon's radiance fighting with the cold rock over who's more important. Sure, the radiance needs the rock there to be able to reflect, but if not for the radiance the rock might just as well not exist."

It must have been that his fever was climbing, because that actually made sense to Yukito. He looked at the mirror, and found that the cruel, predatory face was actually smiling at him.

"So… are there two of us?" Yukito finally asked it – him. "Or is there one?"

"Just one," Yue answered. "And stop speaking out loud. It sounds ridiculous."

"W-wha?" Yuki spluttered. The face in the mirror sniggered, and somewhere very deep inside Yukito's mind, he could feel the barest hint of mirth.

"I've been talking inside your head this whole time. It must sound lunatic to Kero, who can only hear you talking to yourself."

With a start, Yuki realized that for the entire conversation, his reflection's lips had never parted. "Don't be a brat," Kero scolded. "I can hear inside your head just fine."

A few moments earlier this would have seemed like the most atrocious of violations of privacy to Yukito, but his world was suddenly – comfortably – much larger now.

_Like… this? _He asked uncertainly, concentrating hard to keep his mouth from moving.

Suddenly, as if a dam was opening, Yukito felt a rush of gratitude, and sympathy, and remorse for the pain that Yukito had felt, and even love and tenderness for him from his other form.

Yukito gasped, because the second wave of emotion was much stronger, much deeper than the first, and this was pure, relentless despair. Over Clow. Over his death. Over lost love.

"Yes," Keroberus said knowingly, seeing Yukito's hand suddenly grip the bedclothes in pain. "We're both still mourning."

As quickly as it had come, Yue clamped down on his emotions with a degree of self-control that Yukito recognized as being almost frightening. It was the degree of self-control that Yukito had, up until recently, been training himself to adopt around Touya to ensure that he didn't let anything incriminating slip.

It was that, more than anything else, which made Yukito like his other form.

"_Yes, like that_," Yue's voice reverberated inside his mind. "_You should be able to hear me like this always, now. Even when I'm in control of our body._"

_Can we test that some other day?_ Yukito fought to control a yawn. _I'm sleepy_.

There was a warm chuckle from Yue. "_Yes, of course_."

"Welcome back, little brother," Kero said happily, and nodded to MIRROR, who curtsied again, leaned down to kiss Yukito silently on the cheek - making him blush with an absurd sense of pleasure - and returned to her card form.

Just before Yukito drifted off to sleep, he turned to Yue inside his mind and asked, _Yue? Do you love Touya?_

The answer was immediate. "_I must, if you do. Even though I still mourn for Clow_."

Yukito gave the mental equivalent of a nod of satisfaction. _Then we're even_. _Not that being even matters._

Yue chuckled.

_Yue? _Yukito asked again, almost completely asleep now. _One day, you'll love Touya as I do, without any regrets. Because he, unlike Clow, loves us as we do him_.

Sakura and Touya came home from school at the same time that day, because Touya had called in sick to both of his after-school jobs. Sakura raced up the stairs to her room, yelling for Kero to come down and listen to the _fabulous _day that she had. Touya, smiling at her energy, nudged her shoes into a neater alignment and picked her jacket up from where she had flung it on the entry-way bench and hung it up, before following up the stairs to check on his radiance.

"Touya!" Sakura called as she heard her brother's footsteps pass her room. "I can't find Kero! Do you know where he went?"

Touya turned to walk into Yukito's room and stopped in the doorway, staring at the sight in front of him. Finally, smiling in surprise, he called, "He's in here."

A patter of footsteps, and Sakura joined him in the doorway.

There, amidst the incredibly rumpled covers, leaning into the sunlight that was streaming through the window, lay Yukito, fast asleep, silver hair burning in the afternoon sunset.

Lying on top of him, stretched full length, was Keroberus, purring gently into the boy's ear, leaning into the hand that was tangled in the fur around his neck.

**Like it? Hate it? Tell me what you think!**


	3. Epilogue: Kiss

**A little bit of fluff…**

"_Yukito…"_

_Not now._

"_Yukiiiiiito…"_

_I don't want to hear it!_

"_Yukito!"_

_I'm busy! _

This same conversation had occurred at least three times that afternoon, and Yukito had brushed off his other form each time.

"_Yu… ki… to…" _

But it was getting steadily harder. One of the many problems with sharing brainspace with someone, Yukito reflected for what must have been the umpteenth time since his fateful cold last month, was that your mindmate really knew how to get your attention when they wanted it. In Yukito's case, Yue had found that repetition was the quickest way to get what he wanted.

It didn't help, Yukito thought with an irritated turn of the head, that the beyond-annoying conversations all took place silently, in his own mind. He would have been happier if the people around him could by privy to his frustration, but unfortunately he was forced to hide all evidence of his discomfort, or risk being recognized for the lunatic that he was.

At least now he was in relative private. It was one of Touya's rare days off, and the boys were using it to cram in some extra studying for the up-coming all-important college entrance exams. Yukito still didn't quite know what he wanted to do with the rest of his life, but Touya entertained aspirations of being a pediatrician, so top marks were essential.

And wherever Touya went, Yukito would follow.

Yukito was incredibly shy about the still-developing duality of his psyche, even around Touya, and refrained from having conversations with Yue when there was anyone else in the room. It annoyed Yue to no end, and the moon guardian had set to work breaking down Yukito's barriers with gusto.

Which is why it took Yukito several moments to realize that this distraction was slightly different from the others. For one thing, Touya had left the room almost a minute ago to refill the ever-present snack plate, completely necessary for any of Yukito's marathon study sessions. Yukito was currently comfortably reclining on Touya's bed, nudging his calculus workbook moodily with a pencil, and waiting for the other boy to return. Touya's absence was certainly not something that Yue would have missed.

For another thing, each of Yue's attempts to get his attention was punctuated by a slight magical jolt, the equivalent of a light physical smack. Yue had never before used any but mental methods of diversion.

Irritated by his own curiosity, Yukito turned his attention to his other form.

_You rang? _ He asked drily.

"_Thank _God_," _Yue cried. He had quite a flair for the dramatic, Yukito was learning. "_I thought you'd _never_ pay attention to me."_

_So, you're distracting me from studying because… you're bored? If you don't have enough to do, you're welcome to take over for my calculus exam. Being alive for almost a century, you should be more qualified to take these tests than me_.

Yue snorted, if a being as elegant as the moon angel was capable of such an unrefined sound. _"I wouldn't think of interfering with the education system." _He sounded virtuous. _"No, I've had plenty to entertain myself with for the past few hours. I'm just glad I got your attention while Touya was away. Don't worry, I've… detained him for a few minutes so that we can have this conversation in private_."

_What did you do_? Yukito demanded, but he was more resigned – and even a little amused, though he'd be loath to admit it, even to himself – then actually upset. Yue loved Touya as he did, and so was not really capable of doing anything to harm the boy.

"_Nothing big,"_ Yue was trying to sound reassuring, which Yukito found more amusing still. _"I just sent a little bit of wind to knock the letter that Sakura is writing to Li in plain view. That should keep him busy for at least five minutes_."

_You're evil_, Yuki replied, but he was smiling now, and there was no way to hide something like that from yourself. _All right, you have my attention. What did you want to talk to me about?_

"_Touya of course," _Yue responded promptly. Yukito sighed.

_Of course. _Yukito was resigned. His other form had been ominously silent on this subject for the past three weeks, which Yukito could tell meant trouble. He had had no reservations with picking over every other aspect of Yukito's daily life, up to and including the details of his teenage libido – _"What!" _Yue had been defensive. _"I'm not human so I don't have one – I'm interested!_" – so Yukito knew that the uncharacteristic reticence was not out of respect for Yukito's feelings.

"_He wants you_," Yue said helpfully. Yukito told him what he thought of that. _"I'm trying to be nice!" _Yue scolded. _"He wants you and you want him. Go for it._"

_No, _Yukito said flatly. He would have loved to end the conversation there, but the open, expectant feeling coming in waves off of the connection he had with his other form told him that he was not going to get off that easy. _Just because you want something doesn't mean you can have it. We're busy, we're studying for our tests. He's probably still confused, getting over Kaho, adjusting to his feelings for me_.

"_You're scared_." It wasn't a question. "_Those are all pathetic excuses and you know it. He's getting used to _you_? He recognized us for what we are the moment he first laid eyes on you. And I think he probably 'got over' Kaho the moment he first laid eyes on you, too. As for your tests," _this time Yue definitely snorted, _"I promise that the two of you waste more time hoping and dreaming and mooning over each other than you would if you just got on with things_."

_Well… _Yukito groped uncomfortably, _It's his responsibility to make the first move, right? I mean, he's the dominant one._

"_Don't try to fit real relationships into soap opera labels. The reason why he hasn't acted on his emotions is because you've been scaring him – you've been acting differently the past month, and he's trying to give you space to adjust_."

_And whose fault is that? _Yukito shot back.

"_My _point _is," _Yue continued as if he hadn't heard his corporeal form, _"he's not going to know that he can sneeze around you, let alone act on his emotions, unless you tell him_."

It was a testament to how much stronger the connection between the two of them had gotten in recent days that Yukito felt himself absorbing Yue's conviction along with his words. For a brief moment he could see the past month through the eyes of a not-quite-objective bystander, feel Yue's frustration, see the logic behind his advice and the tentative affection that Yue held for him.

Fortunately for Yukito, Touya chose that moment to bump the door open with his foot, the snack tray taking both hands to control, and Yue retreated to the background.

"What took you?" Yukito asked blandly. Touya shrugged stiffly.

"I saw something of Sakura's lying around and went to give it back to her."

"Oh," Yukito said, fighting to keep a straight face, hoping that Touya couldn't read how much he knew about the distraction from the crinkle at the corner of his eyes. Touya probably was acting in his own self-interest that he chose not to notice.

Touya placed the snack tray on the end table next to the other boy, and sat down next to where Yukito lay with his head propped on his hands.

"Made any progress?" Touya asked, turning his back on Yukito for a moment to reclaim his own workbook.

"Yes, actually," Yukito said slyly, pushing himself up into a sitting position and leaning slightly toward his friend.

When Touya turned back around, he bit back a gasp, surprised by the sudden proximity.

"Really?" he asked, but Yukito could see that his mind was on nothing like their math homework.

"Really," Yukito whispered, forcing Touya to bring their faces closer still to make out the word. "Touya?" Yukito asked, putting a hand up to Touya's cheek.

"_And you say _I _have a flair for the dramatic?"_

_Shut up!_

"Kiss me."

**There's the fluffy ending. A little bit mainstream, but I hope you liked it.**


End file.
